Choices
by whatthisisntme
Summary: Castiel begins to court Dean, but someone is standing in the way. A deal is made to decide who gets to stay, but who will win? What is the aftermath of it all?
1. The Other Girl

**I apologize if anyone is really out of character. Hope you like it. Reads and reviews are much appreciated. I have a couple chapters of this written already, so I'll definitely be making regular updates, but how soon they come is up to you guys. Anywho, Enjoy!**

Chapter 1

"I know what you're doing and I want you to stop it. It's perverse and he probably doesn't even know." Castiel tilted his head to the side at the dark skinned woman's comment. He wasn't quite sure who she was, but he was quite certain that she had no business telling him, a warrior of the Lord, what to do.

"I am not quite sure that I know what exactly you are talking about." Or why she was in the Winchester's hotel room. His eyebrows furrowed together as the girl intensified the glare that he was currently on the receiving end of.

"I told you man, you've just got to…" Whatever remark Sam was about to make was abruptly cut off when he saw the two people in the room that they had rented for the night.

"Cassie. What a surprise!" Dean was the first to speak and he walked over to the woman, wrapping her in his arms. "I haven't seen you in forever." Castiel had to hold back a growl at the familiarity that they seemed to have with each other. He closed his eyes and remembered his place, which was definitely not between the two of them, though he definitely wanted Dean away from this woman. (Woman, because with the way she was acting, he was not going to call her a lady.) "How are you? How'd you know where we were?" She smiled enthusiastically and drew back from the embrace, though the two of them stayed close to each other.

"I'm on the trail of a story, journalism and all, y'know, and I saw the Impala, couldn't be anyone's but yours. Beautiful thing it is." Dean's chest puffed up with pride and Castiel almost smiled, before he remembered that he was not supposed to be smiling, he had new leads on how they could stop the demon they were up against at the moment. If Castiel were anyone else, he would have sagged a little bit, he was going to have to be here longer than he thought, since he had no intention of telling them the plans while this _woman_ was in the room. She was not privy to things of such import and stature. Sam coughed a little bit and she turned to him.

"Cassandra." She smiled sweetly at him and gave him a brief embrace which she seemed to draw back from immediately after it was initiated. The interaction was watched closely by Dean, his smile never really fading from his face. "It's good to see you again." She nodded. "We're going to be in town for a few days, so you and Dean can catch up while we're all here."

At this point Castiel was a bit put off. All of this was going on, and no one was even acknowledging him. Had he done something to upset the boys? He distinctly remembered the time when they had outright ignored him and refused to speak to him, even when he had _apologized_, something that he had never done before in his long, very long, existence. But thinking back, he had not recently made such an infraction that would warrant any punishment so they must have just forgotten his presence, with the excitement from meeting up with an old acquaintance.

Looking upon the scene in front of him once again he cleared his throat and both boys turned to look at him. "Cas! This is Cassie. Huh. Weird that your names are… anyways." He looked between the two of us as though he was a bit nervous, or something about introducing us was incredibly awkward. "She's an.. Old friend of mine. I guess you could say." The tone of Dean's voice when he said 'old friend' made Castiel's stomach drop and had he been anyone else, his shoulders would have drooped. She was an old lover of Dean's, and from the chemistry between the two of them, at least while they were here, they would once again be together. Castiel suppressed a shudder. Dean turned back to the girl, Cassie, Cassandra, whatever. "This is Castiel. He helps us with the job." She quirked an eyebrow and seemed to appraise Castiel, the expression on her face was like one of a predator preparing to eat it's prey.

"I see." There was a moment of silence. "I haven't had anything to eat yet tonight. Would you boys be up to coming with me into town? I saw a little diner…" She smiled at the three of them, but Castiel was distinctly aware that she was not inviting me, but the Winchesters.

"Sounds great. I have a few things that I would need to, uh, do before we go, but I should be ready in a few minutes." Sam scratched the back of his head after he was done talking and Dean raised an eyebrow at him. They stood there in silence for a bit before Sam ducked out of the room to do the things he was talking about.

"Are you going to come?" Cassandra was directing the question to me, malice in her voice, but only recognized by Castiel, as Dean was unaware of her distaste for him.

"Him? No. He doesn't. Well. Umm. Wait. Cas, do you _want_ to go?" He looked between the two of them and slowly shook my head.

"I have business to attend to Dean, and you know that I do not need sustenance as you do." Castiel spoke the last part quieter than the rest of it and got a lot closer to Dean. "I need to discuss some new findings with you." He glanced at me, green eyes alight.

"Can't it wait until later?" He sounded so desperate, and directly after he spoke, his stomach growled.

"If that is what you wish, I will come back later." Dean grinned. "I have other business to attend to anyways." And with that, he disappeared from their sight, quickly flying back to the heavens.


	2. Bad Moon Rising

Chapter 2.

The sight that awaited Castiel when he arrived in Heaven, was strange to say the least. Angels of every kind were lined up in single file lines according to rank everywhere he turned. Before he could puzzle on this phenomena for very long, he could hear his name being called and he turned to find that Gabriel was in one of the lines, gesturing hurriedly for him to file in behind his brother.

Used to following orders, Castiel did so as quickly as he could, looking around once again only after he was in line. "Brother, what is going on?" Gabriel laughed and Castiel furrowed his eyebrows. Nothing he had said seemed to be particularly funny to him, but he didn't question it because he knew that his question, if spoken aloud would only cause more humor in his brother and he would never get any answers.

"We are to wait in line, and when we reach the end of the line we are to be told who our mate is." Castiel tilted his head to the side and stared at Gabriel for a few moments. "Father said that our numbers were too low, and to insure the survival of the Kingdom, we must all find a suitable mate amongst each other, or a similar creature." Gabriel did not seem very phased by this prospect, but he was not often phased by anything.

"They're being chose for us?" After everything they had fought for, to keep the Kingdom of Heaven in power and to keep free will just as it was (free), they were going to have their life partners chosen for them?

"We don't have to comply. They're just going to tell who is most compatible with us. Father knows all of us very well, I'd say that I'm going to trust his choice." Gabriel was then silent and Castiel was left to brood. Would his mate keep him away from the Winchesters? He saw many situations during his time on Earth in which one or both members of a partnership were limited and hindered by each other. What if the angel that was chosen for him did not agree with his viewpoints on orders? On free will? On the Winchesters? Oh Lord. What if his spouse did not want him to visit the boys? To be friends with them? To hunt with them? It was a foreboding and very frightening thought.

Castiel was so deeply lost in his speculations that he had not noticed that he and Gabriel were now at the front of the line. He was broken out of his thought only when a name was spoken. "Samuel Winchester." Castiel's head snapped up. Sam? They were able to pair with humans? He looked to his brother who had paled considerably. Gabriel turned from the table silently but did not go far, waiting for Castiel to get his mate, his perfect match his-

"Dean Winchester." Castiel stared at the man for a moment, unsure whether he should sag in relief or cry in despair. He would not be ripped away from the Winchesters, away from the mission that he had grown to love so deeply. But he would also be denied a mate. Yes, he supposed, one could say that it was not true, he would have a mate. But not in the most basic ways that he so yearned for. Gabriel clasped Castiel on the arm and suddenly the two of them were in the dingy hotel room that the Winchesters were staying in. Only they weren't there, neither of them were, they were probably still out eating with that woman.

That woman. Castiel closed his eyes and would have fallen from the weight of his realization if Gabriel had not still been gripping his arm. Dean was not only not interested in him, but he was currently unavailable, and there was no guarantee that he would soon or ever be available, there wasn't even any guarantee that he would ever be available. His stomach dropped. His mate would never be his, wasn't really meant to be his. He couldn't even properly call him his mate, could he?

"They're not in here Gabriel. You can tell him at a later time-" Castiel was cut off when the door swung open and two people, firmly wrapped in each other's embrace burst through, completely oblivious of the other two people in the room. It was Dean, Castiel realized with a sharp stabbing feeling that withered and then intensified to the feeling of a caustic liquid filling his entire body and eating him from the inside out. He was… making out, Castiel believed the term was, very vigorously with that woman, Cassandra.

Gabriel was the first one to do anything. He coughed pretty loudly and Dean turned with his gun drawn. Castiel moved in front of his brother, first instinct. "Shit Cas, you can't just pop in here without telling me, especially not with him." He gestured wildly to Gabriel with the gun and Castiel stepped forward with a placating hand up.

"I know, we were just leaving, our business was with Sam, carry on." He murmured before ducking past them and out of the door, leaving behind a self-satisfied Cassie, and a bewildered Dean.

** I would love it if you guys would review and tell me what you think I should do with this, any ideas, comments or concerns are very welcome. (: **


	3. Sweet Memory

**Well, I told myself that I was only going to update once a week, but this was just so fluffy that I had to post it. This is not what I had originally, but I definitely like this better. (It's longer too. :3)**

**Enjoy !**

Chapter Three.

Gabriel bit into another candy bar as they headed out to the car. In all reality, he wasn't sure how Sam was going to take his news… Gabriel knew that whoever had matched them together, probably knew what they were doing and wouldn't stick him with someone who would just outright reject them. Or at least he hoped that was the case, it wasn't as if he really trusted anyone up there all that much, and he didn't know who had actually matched everyone.

But when Gabriel thought about it, he couldn't have picked anyone better for himself, and so he forced himself to smile through his nervousness and rap on the car window, jolting Sam from his sleep. The hunter shook his head and looked up at the two angels, Gabriel who was wearing his trademark smile and Castiel who looked like he had just been stabbed in the stomach. He rolled down the window, which Gabriel promptly stuck his head in, forcing Sam to lean away a little bit.

"What's wrong?" Castiel started when he realized that Sam's question was directed towards him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm.. Fine. It's not necessarily that something is wrong. It's actually a rather private matter that Gabriel needs to discuss with you. Alone. I'll just be.. going now." Castiel disappeared, which left the hunter and the archangel awkwardly staring at each other.

"Well. This would be easier to talk about if you'd let me in." Sam just stared at him and Gabriel slumped while rolling his eyes. "Or I could just stand here leaning in your window like some hooker." Sam chuckled and Gabriel could tell that he was imagining it, at least in some part of his brain. "C'mon." Sam opened the door and scooted over to the passenger side.

"A private matter between me and you, huh?" Gabriel laughed.

"Yeah." Sam looked at him; expecting more.

Sam nodded slowly and looked away before rubbing his hands against his jeans and looking back to the archangel. "So what is it?"

"So after the apocalypse someone got the crazy idea that we needed more angels, or at least we needed to find a mate." Sam nodded.

"That kind of makes sense. I get that part, but I still don't understand what that has to do with a private matter between me and…" He trailed off and stared at Gabriel with huge eyes. "No way."

"So they gave each of us someone who was our best option, who we would be able to stand for eternity, because when we mate, it is for eternity, you don't die. You just, don't. It's only happened a few times before, I mean, angels mating with humans, and the human is still alive and in prime condition, though I don't really know if they classify as human anymore.." It was at that point that he realized that he was rambling and stopped, looking down.

"So we don't have a choice in this?" Sam's voice sounded resigned and tired when he finally spoke and Gabriel's head snapped up to look at him.

"Of course we have a choice in this, it's not forced on us, I'm not sure that we even have to mate. It's just suggested, and they thought they would help us on finding our true- well, the person best suited to us. I understand completely if you don't want to go through with this." Even though he said this with complete sincerity, his heart clenched painfully. He didn't look at Sam and doggedly continued on, though he was decidedly quieter and could hear his own defeated tone (pitiful, really.) "I just thought you ought to know, ask if you'd even consider it. Y'know, before going out in search…" Sam was very quiet the entire time and Gabriel really didn't want to see his expression, personally he thought that Castiel's option of evasion was a much better idea, and thought about just disappearing from Sam's sight, right here and now.

A hand touched his chin and forced him to look up at the hunter. "I'm not just going to accept this, first thing, but for some reason, I do not want you to go and look for someone else." He moved in a little closer to Gabriel. "I'm not saying I quite forgive you for killing Dean. Forty times." Gabriel searched his face, trying to guess where this was going without reading his thoughts, which would probably not bode well for him. "But, if you're telling the truth for once? You've got a while to make up for that." He grinned, and Gabriel's face almost split in half with the force of the huge smile (a real smile, not a grin, or a smirk or anything else, but a genuine, elated, _smile_) that he now sported.

Neither was very sure who made the first move, but their mouths met in a kiss that started chaste, but didn't stay that way very long, Gabriel's hands weaving their way into Sam's somewhat long hair and Sam's arms pulling him closer until they were both on the passenger side of the car. Gabriel smiled into the kiss and Sam broke away for air. "That's a good start."

Gabriel's smile grew even wider after Sam's comment and moved in once again.

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Castiel watched this exchange from afar, wanting to be there for Gabriel if things didn't go well. He sighed, he should probably leave, there was no need for him here anymore, and things had gone well for Gabriel; much better than Castiel could ever hope for his explanation to Dean. As it was, he considered his options. He could hide it from Dean, never tell him about it, and live without a mate, just protecting Dean for as long as he was allowed to, before he was reassigned and given another job or another charge. He shook his head, there had to be a way for things to work out, for him to become as happy as he could feel his brothers and sisters all slowly becoming as they all joined with their respective mates.

He knew that it wouldn't work if he just told Dean, he would reject it right away, it was just how the man was when presented with new information, unbelievable information. So he would need to break it to him slowly. Make him open to the idea of being with Castiel before he presented the prospect of being bonded even further, of being mates.

What was the human custom? Courting? No, that term was one he was sure was old fashioned. Dating. That was it; dating. He would take Dean on regular dates, woo him. He drew a breath and disappeared. He had lots of planning (and research) to do. _He had to make this work._

He wasn't sure what he would do if he failed and Dean rejected him after all.

**I would really love ideas on what Dean and Cas should do on their dates. Review please!**


	4. By The Way

**Thank you for your reviews. I was so happy when I saw that I even had any. What's going on with Castiel and Dean is pretty complicated. I'm not even to the main part of the plot, anywho. I love this story. I get anxious to just write it. (: PS, the date is for you **

** Chapter Four.**

To say that Dean was surprised when he opened the hotel room door the next night, was a great understatement. Castiel was standing there in a Led Zeppelin t-shirt, blue jeans that fit him just right in all the right places, and bright red converse. He looked up when Dean opened the door and he smiled, twirling a set of car keys around his fingers and smiling at Dean. A huge, white, blinding smile that would have left Dean at a loss for words if he hadn't already been dumbstruck by the rest of the angel's appearance, greeted him as he stepped back inside the motel room. Cas leaned against the door and continued to spin the keys.

"Are you here to tell me where Sam is? He hasn't been back all day." Dean scratched his head and Cas just laughed a little bit.

"He's busy at the moment. You'll probably see him sometime tonight, after we get back." Dean looked abruptly up from whatever he was doing and stared at Castiel again.

"Get back? From what? What are we doing?" Dean groaned. "Don't tell me there's something other than the ghost we just took care of that's wrong with this town." Castiel put up his hands in a placating manner.

"Dean, slow down. It's a surprise, I'm not telling you where we're going, only that we're going. We're gonna get dinner before, and I'd appreciate it if you put clean clothes on." He looked over the attire that Dean was in, not that he was saying there was anything wrong with what Dean looked like, he was gorgeous as usual, but he didn't want anything on the seats of his car. It was the only time that he'd ever really used it, he'd only got it because the rest of his brothers and sisters were teasing him about not having anything to travel with if he had to go undercover.

"…Okay. Just give me a minute." Castiel smiled once again and sat down on the chair that was in the corner, waiting for Dean. "Why can't you tell me what we're doing?" Dean's voice called from the other room.

"It's not that I cannot, it's that I will not." Castiel had searched for something near them, and finally found what he was looking for, there was a huge concert that he knew Dean was probably going to like, considering the bands that were going to be playing there.

Dean came out with a black t-shirt, clean blue jeans, jean-jacket and boots on. "We good now?" Castiel nodded while trying to keep himself from staring, not wanting to scare Dean by being acting even more different than he usually did.

They walked out of the hotel room together and Dean was momentarily confused, realizing that Castiel was actually walking with him, still twirling those confounded keys around his fingers. They got out into the parking lot and Dean cursed. "I forgot, Sam took the Impala when he went wherever it is that he went." Castiel didn't seem to be phased by this and kept walking deeper into the parking lot.

"It doesn't matter." Dean blinked at Castiel's aloof statement. "We have a different ride." He disappeared in the cars when Dean glanced back at the hotel hesitantly, wondering if he should grab any more weapons than he currently had on his person. When Dean looked back and there was no sign of the angel anywhere he panicked for a moment.

"Cas?" He ran down the rows and stopped at the end, where Cas was leaning against a light blue and white, 1954 Stingray Corvette Convertible. "No way; this is our ride? Where'd you get it?" Castiel smiled.

"It's mine." Dean went to move for the driver's side and Cas nudged him out of the way, climbing over the side and into the seat in a swift movement, which was relatively easy because the top was down. Dean slumped for a moment and told himself that his baby was better than Castiel's stupid car anyways, before going around to the passenger side. Castiel promptly handed him two concert tickets. "This is what we're going to see after dinner." Dean looked at the tickets to see who was playing and genuinely laughed.

"Misstalica, ThundHerStruck, and Lady Zeppelin?" Castiel laughed at his confused expression.

"Female tribute bands for Metallica, ACDC and Led Zeppelin. Thought you might enjoy it." Dean's whole face was lit up. "We're going to eat in the little town diner first and then head out, okay?" Dean was speechless and just shrugged while smiling.

Castiel smiled to himself and shook his head a little bit in the wind. His plan seemed to be working.

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"I heard that the diner up here has some good steak and baked potatoes. Even better apple pie." Dean's eyes lit up at the mentions of his favorite foodstuffs and seemed to look at Castiel as though he was expecting the sentence to be followed by a typical 'but as an angel I do not need sustenance and it would be unnecessary for us to venture into the place.' But as this night was to appease Dean, Castiel had mentioned the diner with the intent to go in, and possibly eat some steak, potatoes, and pie himself, if only to make his vessel Jimmy just a little bit happier with him. "How about we go in?" Castiel stopped in front of the place as he asked the question. Dean looked at him in surprise, but didn't ask any questions and walked quickly inside when Castiel opened the door.

The girl that waited on their table was actually very pretty, and Castiel attempted to not become too jealous when Dean flirted with her, as per usual. Dean's attention was drawn away from her when Castiel ordered for the both of them, two New York strips, medium rare, with baked potatoes, butter and salt only, please and thank you. He ordered a root beer for himself and before Dean had the chance to order himself an actual beer, he ordered a Coke for Dean and ignored the pout that now adorned Dean's petulant face. "…and two large slices of apple pie, ice cream on top with extra cinnamon sprinkled on the ice cream."

For the second time in a day, Dean was left utterly speechless by something that Castiel did. Knowing what he wanted for his meal was easy, but knowing exactly how he liked his pie? How had he ever disliked this guy? Dean was struck out of his reverie by the fact that he registered Castiel's gravelly voice saying his name.

"I apologize, Dean. I did not think to actually ask what you wanted for dinner. It was awfully rude of me. If you want something else, I can call the waitress back…" Dean studied the face that Castiel was making, worried, anxious, blue eyes huge and apprehensive, an expression that he usually only wore when beautiful women were hitting on him.

"No. It's fine Cas. Actually, you ordered exactly what I would have. Except for the drink, do you think I could get a beer?" Castiel frowned and shook his head.

"I suppose I could allow you to have a beer. But if I did, there would be no way that you'd be the one driving the car back to the hotel after the concert like I had originally planned." Dean deadpanned.

"Coke will be absolutely fine."

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Cas pulled into the packed parking lot with ease and skill, pulling through the cars without so much as getting near one, and found a parking spot right near the entrance. He laughed heartily at something that Dean said and hopped out over the door and out of the car, hurrying around to the other side so he could open Dean's car door for him. At the gesture, Dean blushed and smiled warily at the warrior of the lord, stepping out and mumbling something about being able to open his own doors, which Castiel did not pay any attention to.

They gave the man their tickets and Dean became somewhat worried at the sight of the metal detectors, he hadn't left his gun or his knives in the car. He looked at Castiel with wide eyes as they got up there and Castiel nodded minutely, picking up what Dean was worried about. But Dean found out that he didn't have to be worried as they made their way through without any problems and soon found themselves at the front of the crowd, which Dean knew was probably because of Castiel's angel mojo; no crowd ever split that easily to let someone up to a better seat unless they were high or under a spell.

Dean didn't have long to think about it before Misstalica came out on the stage and the concert officially started.

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Sam and Gabriel had taken off first thing in the morning in the Impala, deciding that they probably didn't want to present their new relationship to Dean until after they knew what exactly their relationship was. Or what Sam wanted to call them, Gabriel knew that they were mates, even though they hadn't really bonded or even mated (in the most base form of the term) last night, but that didn't stop him from knowing that he was going to spend eternity with the hunter. He would spend all of it making sure that he was safe, happy and protected.

So they spent the day going through different pawn shops, jewelry shops, and malls looking for rings. Because even though Gabriel could probably summon a set of them, just as they wanted them, with the snap of his fingers, it wouldn't have meant as much. Sam knew that they weren't really getting married per se, but he wanted the symbol there, wanted everyone to know that Gabriel was his. (His immediate possessiveness that he had seemed to have gained overnight was starting to weird him out, but Gabriel seemed to be happy with it, so he let it go.)

They had finally found exactly what they were looking for. They were a pair of gold rings, white and yellow gold woven into what looked like a rather flat rope, and on the inside of each ring, there was an engraved image of angel wings. Gabriel had gotten them from money that seemed to come from thin air, and Sam knew probably wasn't real, but he couldn't bring himself to care all that much. When they were done and they were both wearing their respective jewelry, they'd gotten back in the Impala and drove back to the motel that Dean and Sam had been staying in.

Gabriel read Dean's note of "Going with Cas, be back later." Over which they shared a knowing look and flopped down on Sam's bed to watch some crap television, being careful to stay away from game shows.

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Dean threw his arm around Castiel as they both laughed as they made their way out of the building that the concert had happened in. "Man, the musicians were pretty good, but Lady Zeppelin needs a new singer." Dean was leaning into Cas as they made their way to the car. Castiel climbed into the passenger seat and tossed the keys to Dean who smiled brightly as he fired the car up and pulled out of the parking lot.

The concert had gone pretty well, until Lady Zeppelin, who, as Dean had said, desperately needed a new singer. She had no emotion in her voice and Dean had insisted on leaving before he 'busted a gut from laughing.' Castiel had been concerned that maybe Dean didn't like the concert, but he assured him that he loved the first part of it, he just couldn't stand how hilarious the girl's singing was.

"Man, she was certainly no Robert Plant." Castiel nodded and leaned back against the seat, willing himself to forget that the car didn't have seatbelts and the speed at which Dean was driving was more than twice the speed limit. It didn't bother him enough to tell Dean to slow down though, with his recharged Grace he could stop them from becoming injured, but he didn't want the date to end that way, so he just relaxed and told himself that Dean knew what he was doing, because in truth, he did.

The trip back to the motel was a quick one and Castiel climbed out stiffly, opening Dean's door once again, which earned him a weird look from Dean, but he just smiled at him. Dean huffed and got out, making his way through the cars and back to the hotel, Castiel following directly behind him. Dean grumbled and opened the door to the hotel, freezing at the sight that he saw when he came in.

Sam and Gabriel were laying on Sam's bed, watching tv, but the glimmer from the rings and the fact that they were holding hands really began to weird Dean out. "What's going on?" They both looked up at him.

"Watching television." Dean snorted in a way that showed he was getting more than a little bit irritated.

"Well I can see that. I mean what are you two doing.." He gestured wildly with his arms.

"Oh." Dean gritted his teeth and Castiel felt like he should do something to try and calm him down, but wasn't sure if there was anything that he could do.

"I assume that they are now mates." Dean whirled on Castiel with wide, wild and enraged eyes. He looked between the angels. Before the hunter had a chance to start with accusations and wild curses, Castiel continued. "Each of us was given the name of our perfect match and encouraged to mate. It was voluntary, if Sam has accepted Gabriel, then it was of his own will. It is a recent happening, so you have not been unaware of such happenings for more than a day. Perhaps they wanted to avoid a drastic reaction from you?" Castiel's voice went lower and lower, growing less audible as he spoke, trying to diffuse the situation before a fight could occur.

"Mates. Like. Married? Or?" Sam blushed under the heat of Dean's gaze and nodded.

"Sort of, more permanent though.." Dean took a deep breath and then turned on Castiel.

"Each of us. You said each of us, that us included all of the angels?" He nodded and glanced at Gabriel for help, unsure where Dean was going with this. The archangel just shrugged, glad that the attention was turned away from him, and took a bite of a peppermint patty that he pulled from thin air. "Is that what tonight was?" Castiel's stared at Dean, flinching from the angry tone of his voice; perhaps telling him outright would have been the best thing. "You were saying goodbye?"

Castiel was now completely lost; goodbye? Why would he say goodbye? Dean was his mate, he would not be leaving any time soon, unless Dean wished it so. "Dean. I'm afraid that I don't follow what you're saying." Gabriel now had a bag of kettle corn and was chomping away at it noisily; as though he was watching some sort of particularly interesting TV show or movie.

"You're going off to get mated, and you can't stick around anymore. So you took me out and did stuff you knew that I'd want to do. Even brought a car…" The hunter shook his head. "I knew it was suspicious; too good to be true." The hunter looked up at the ceiling and kicked at the ground; shaking his head and looking everywhere but the angel.

"Dean," He paused and made sure that he had his attention, "I'm not going anywhere." Dean rolled his eyes.

"That's what you say now, but if you go off and get mated, they're not going to want you around some hunters and getting your life risked damn near every day. They're gonna hen peck you into staying home."Castiel squared his shoulders and looked into Dean's green eyes that were swirling with emotions.

"I'm not going to get mated, Dean." Gabriel dropped the bag of popcorn and Sam's forehead wrinkled with concern. The pair looked at each other in confusion and Dean stiffened.

"What?" He blinked at him, staring in disbelief. "Why not?"

"It is not necessary for me to do such. We were only assigned mates in order to try and help us find someone who we would be able to stay with for the rest of eternity. They were only trying to make us happy, in their way." Castiel smiled bitterly. "Mating would interfere with my duties and friendships here; I have decided that I will not inform the person they chose, as it would further complicate things." Dean slumped in relief.

"Man, I'm sorry…" Castiel looked away from the hunter, because he knew that Dean wasn't really sorry.

"There is nothing to be sorry about. I need to go take the car back. I'll see all of you tomorrow." He ducked out of the room and started walking back to the car.

_You should have told him. _Gabriel's voice sounded within his mind and Castiel shook his head. 'You should stay out of my head.'

_He wants to know who your mate was going to be, and I have half a mind to tell him._ Castiel's steps faltered but he did not turn back towards the hotel. 'Use the other half of your intelligence and realize that it is not your place to tell him.' Castiel's mental voice was forceful and biting.

_I will not tell him, but I will say once again. You should have told him._ Castiel threw the archangel out of his mind and closed his mental barriers, cursing himself for opening them in the first place. He looked at the ground as he made his way through the parking lot, shaking violently with emotion as it sank in; he was going to be denied a mate. He had denied himself a mate.

His head suddenly snapped up when the car was in sight, there was someone on the car. He sneered at the dark-haired woman and she smiled up at him congenially, leaning against the car with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Hello Castiel."

**This one was a bit longer than the other updates. There you go! I love the reviews. It's really feeding my plot bunny and making updates come faster. (: Sorry for leaving it there, but it was necessary.** **I hate torturing Castiel like this, and I'm pretty sure that it's not going to get better for him any time soon. I suck. **


	5. Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You

"Cassandra." He regarded her briefly before attempting to slip past her and into the car; but such evasive measures were not in the plan, because she hopped off right in front of him and there wasn't enough room for him to slip past without having to touch the woman, and though he could have just popped in and out of being, to get around her, he didn't really want to do that. So he stayed still and tilted his head at her in what she rightfully assumed was a mocking position.

"I see that my earlier words have had no effect on you." Castiel sighed. Of course not, he was a warrior of the Lord and Dean was his charge, he would not stop protecting him. "But maybe they will now." Castiel's stare didn't waver from her, which didn't seem to affect her in the least bit. "Dean is in love with me, he cares for me; more than he could ever care about you, but if you don't leave him alone, I will leave." Castiel became confused by what she was saying, if she loved Dean more than he did, then she would never think of leaving him, unless it was beneficial to him.

"If you cared about him, you would not leave him." This was where Cassie's face stretched into a horrible smile, which would have almost made him believe that she was possessed, if he was not sure that she was fully human.

"See, that's where it gets tricky. I never said that I loved him more than you did; I said that he loved _me_ more than he loved you." Realization sunk into Castiel and he took a deep breath.

"If you are so sure in such a belief, then why do you keep bringing such a thing to me?" Cassie smiled maliciously at Castiel's carefully stoic words and expression.

"Because I want you to leave." His expression didn't waver or change to show that he didn't fully understand, though he was beginning to doubt that Dean had any clue that this disgusting, manipulating side of the girl existed. "And if you don't leave, I will leave. Forever." Castiel could have smiled at that. This woman? Being gone? There were only a few things he could think of being better at the moment. "Now now, wait a second, don't get so excited. If I leave, I'm going to tell Dean that I left because you were harassing me, and he wouldn't be too happy with you then, would he? He'd probably be furious, especially since he cares so much more about me."

Castiel knew that she was correct with that point, if such a thing were to happen, Dean would be furious with him. But that didn't escape the fact that he couldn't just leave his charge. "Now wait, don't get your feathers ruffled." His attention snapped to her, how could she have known such a thing? Was it another human idiom that he had never heard or didn't understand? Or did she really know about his- "Yes, yes; I know about you and your brother. Dean told me about his life a long time ago, with the way you two just keep appearing and disappearing, you're not exactly sneaky about it. It only took a bit of brainpower to deduce… but anyways. I want to make a deal with you. You take Dean out on another date, and I'll come halfway through, and if I can get him to leave with me, then I win. You leave, and only come back if they absolutely need your help, after all, they don't really need you anymore, the apocalypse has passed and all they have on their hands for a while is a couple of salt and burns, which doesn't require the assistance of one angel, really, let alone two.

"If I can't get him to leave with me, then I will leave, and not bother any of you again, unless I need help." Castiel stared at her, not sure whether he should take the deal or not, but realized that this was his only chance to actually stay with the boys, to stay with Dean. "Now. Do we have a deal?" Castiel closed his eyes and nodded.

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"Tell me who it is." Dean barked out at the two other men in the car. They both shook their head solemnly to which Dean let out an angry sigh. "Just tell me already, I'm gonna find out sooner or later." Gabriel shook his head and Sam pursed his lips, looking forward at Dean, who was in the front seat while they were in the back.

"You're going to find out what, sooner or later?" Dean jumped and the car swerved when Castiel appeared in the seat beside him, in a tux, not just a suit, a tux. Dean blinked a couple times and shook his head, regaining the control of the car in the process.

"You have to stop doing that, man. I'm gonna wreck one of these days." Castiel stared at him with something close to amusement.

"No you won't." Dean nodded his consent, because Castiel was correct, Dean would not wreck; not from something as small as Castiel appearing in the car.

"What's with the penguin get up?" Castiel looked down at himself and then smiled.

"We are going out to dinner. I'll give you directions, and you drive there." Dean stared at him out of the corner of his eyes for a little bit before he gave a heavy sigh and made a grunt of consent. _Good boy._ Gabriel whispered into Castiel's mind, who in turn took a deep breath and slammed down his mental defenses.

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Castiel waited anxiously in the car while Dean went in to get changed into nicer clothes. His plan was to propose to Dean, since his charge was so interested in who his mate was going to be, maybe, he would not be so adverse to it being himself. Even if they did not do the entire mating process.

A mating was not necessarily a marriage. It was a partnership in which both people depended on each other, where they trusted each other as friends, siblings, and if both partners were willing, as lovers. Any level of such a bond would keep both entities or souls attached to each other, no matter what happened to their physical bodies, and if a mate was human, they would not age or come to harm as easily. Which meant that a bond really was forever, they would always be together whether they wanted to or not, which was why the bond could never be something involuntary, both parties were always willing and aware of all of the side effects.

Sam and Gabriel shared the highest level of such a bond, as they were close enough already to be all three. The way things were going, Castiel would consider himself lucky to share one level of the mating, the friend part. Castiel trusted Dean more than he trusted his brothers and sisters, was more protective and had in effect betrayed his siblings for this man. But he was sure that such devotion was not returned to him. Sam was the most important thing in Dean's life, always. His brother's safety and wellbeing was something that Dean had always considered more important than his own life, as was evidenced in his trip to hell; and the third level of bonding for the mates, well, Castiel would not fool himself into thinking that there was a chance for that, no matter how much he wanted it. He would only be causing himself more pain in the long run if he thought about it that way.

Which was why today was such a scary risk for him; he honestly didn't know if Dean was going to choose his company over Cassie's. Especially if he _loved _her; Dean did incredible things for the people that he cared for, and those that he loved, were on an unreachable pedestal of fierce protection from pretty much everyone. So being that Dean only cared for Castiel, and he loved Cassie, this endeavor that he was indulging in tonight was almost hopeless. But that didn't mean that Castiel couldn't try to make himself a happy ending, if he gave up any hope, he would not get anywhere tonight and-

His thoughts were cut off when Dean got in the car, freshly showered and wearing the new suit that he had just bought for when they were pretending to be of some sort of Intelligence Agency. Dean turned the key and pulled out of the parking lot. "We're going to the fancy place in the middle of town?" Castiel nodded.

"We have reservations under Winchester." Dean laughed and nodded.

"It's funny that my real name is the one that sounds unrealistic. Out of all of the fake ones we have…" Castiel indulged in a bright smile and ran a hand through his already messy hair. He was… nervous. Very much so, and he could tell that it was showing, but thankfully, Dean chose to have some tact for once and not commenting on it.

They arrived at the place not long after that and they were both seated in the very empty restaurant. The waiter brought Dean a coke and his favorite type of beer, and gave Castiel an ice water. Dean looked a bit confused, but accepted it anyways. He wasn't aware that Castiel had ordered everything ahead of time. Dean was going to have cherry pie, a huge cheeseburger, and a baked potato, because with all of Castiel's money and persistence, they still refused to make French fries.

"So all this mating business. Why now?" Castiel jolted as Dean's rough voice broke him out of his thoughts once again.

"Father thinks that the angels would be happier and would get along better if they were not alone. If we have mates to occupy ourselves with, then maybe we will concentrate on keeping each other happy, and not destroying everything that the Lord has created." Dean tilted his head back and forth and pursed his lips.

"Not such a bad idea after all." He took a sip of his coke. "Why are they chosen for you?"

"They are not chosen for us; rather we are given the name of someone who we would be able to spend the rest of eternity with without causing another war from sheer unhappiness. The mate will cease to age and will be able to see and hear us in our true form, without being harmed in any way." Dean just stared at him.

"So you're given a mate, you go hunt them out, and you get together?" Castiel frowned.

"No. You are given the name, and you can choose whether to approach them or find someone else. Both sides are completely willing… if that's what you're getting at. Your brother knew what he was getting into." Dean had a shocked expression on his face.

"I wasn't asking for Sammy. I was asking about you. What are you going to do?" Castiel raised his eyebrows.

"It depends on how the person reacts. If they react positively, and agree to any degree of the bond, then I will mate. But if the person does not agree, then I will remain alone. I was accurately matched." Dean stared at him with something akin to disappointment.

"To any degree?" Castiel licked his lips. Where was their food?

"Yes. Being mated is like having a companion that is a friend, a sibling, and a lover. Some mating bonds are just friendships, some are just siblings. Some are both, and the strongest bond is when all three levels are present between the two involved." He smiled wryly. "I, myself, would settle for any of the three."

"That's bullshit. You shouldn't have to settle for anything. You should get what's best for you." Dean seemed to be angry at his statement. "Who is it?"

"I'm going to go and see what is taking the waiter so long." Castiel stood up abruptly and walked over to where the kitchen doors were concealed, and walked in.

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Dean leaned back in his chair, two of the legs lifting up off the ground as he took a rather large drink of his beer. He started to lean forward and put his drink back on the table, and suddenly the chair was falling. But it stopped gently instead of abruptly, before he was able to hit the ground. He looked up into Cassie's face and laughed.

"Fancy seeing you here." He chuckled and put his drink on the table as she sat him back upright.

"I wanted to say goodbye before I headed out." She looked around the restaurant. "Hey, you wanna grab some cheeseburgers and go to the drive- in theater right outside of town?" She gave him a look that told him that they wouldn't be watching a movie, if you know what he means, and he laughed.

"I'm here with a friend, I can't leave him." She rolled her eyes and leaned forward on the table, showing off her chest and smiling at him.

"C'mon. I'm sure he's a big boy and can handle himself. This is the last time we're gonna get to see each other for who knows how long. One more for the road?" He glanced off in the direction that he had seen Castiel head off to before turning back to her.

"Okay. Sounds good." He scrawled a sorry and something about a raincheck on a napkin, before latching on to her hand and practically jogging out of the restaurant.

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Castiel had walked out of the kitchens just in time to watch the exchange, and could almost hear his heart breaking when he saw Dean smile at her and walk out hand in hand. He went to the table to see Dean's note.

**Cas,**

** Sorry I skipped out on you. I'll talk to you later, maybe we can do think some other  
>time? Catch ya later. Dean<strong>

Castiel set a hundred dollar bill on the table to pay for everything he hadn't already covered, and disappeared from the restaurant, and into the Winchester's hotel room. Which Gabriel and Sam were currently occupying. They looked up in surprise and then the expression quickly shifted to worry.

"What happened? Why are you back? Where's Dean?" Castiel took a steadying breath.

"Dean went with Cassandra while I was inquiring about the food. He will most likely be back within a few hours. I have other things to attend to, you will most likely not be seeing me for a long time. Only call for me if it is an absolute emergency." His voice was strained and his throat burned, along with his eyes. He was about to start crying and he knew that he needed to leave before such a weakness could be shown.

"I'll be in touch." Gabriel said sternly, showing that he wasn't fooled by the hard exterior that Castiel was putting on.

And neither was Sam, by the way that he leapt from the bed and wrapped his large arms around the smaller angel. "I'm sorry my brother's an asshole." Castiel shrugged.

"Thank you for your sentiment. I must be going now." And with that, Castiel was gone.

**So. That was kind of hard to write. And I rushed a bit. But here it is. Any ideas on what Castiel shall do while he's avoiding Gabriel and the Winchesters? I'm open to suggestion. Also, how should I get rid of Cassie? I have a vague idea, but I want to hear what you guys come up with.(:**


	6. Reasons Why

**You know, I keep meaning to find actual titles for the chapters. But it never works. D: **Btw**. You guys are the best. Just saying.(:**

Chapter Six.

They hadn't seen Castiel in five months. After he had said his goodbyes in the hotel room, he was unreachable, even to Gabriel, which meant that whatever he was doing, he wasn't gallivanting around in heaven. No one was quite sure what type of 'mission' Cas was on, but the last time that he had disappeared this long off of everyone's radar, he had been getting Dean out of Hell. When Dean was presented with such an idea he scoffed at it, claiming that 'Cas wouldn't just take off without telling him.' And then he remembered that he had 'taken off' on Cas the last time he'd seen him.

Spirits were down for the whole group, to say the least. Gabriel was tense, which made Sam tense even more than he would have been if he was just worried for Cas, which made Dean even worse than he already was. It was a huge crock pot of manly anger, whispered words behind Dean's back, and worries. It almost sounded like the greatest recipe for some stupid, angsty, high school drama show.

But that didn't keep them from their job, nothing would do that. They kept on keeping on, killing as many sons of bitches as they possibly could and hoping that maybe, the next mission, the next time they exorcised some unlucky bastard of a demon, they would hear some news of Cas. Or even better, that Castiel would show up of his own accord, sensing that they needed help or something.

But each mission was increasingly easier, until there were no more demons that weren't already being dealt with, and all they were left with was the routine salt and burns that were easy and safe and made Dean's heart sink to his feet, because even though he was glad that Sammy wasn't in any more danger than he had to be, he knew that they wouldn't need the help of two angels, and they wouldn't be able to call Castiel to themselves.

Just one mission, Dean thought to himself, that's all we would need. One big one that would require Castiel's help, and once he came down; I could talk him into staying. But as unlikely as Dean's thought process was, he kept it up. He had to make himself believe that they'd be able to fix whatever was wrong with their relationship with Castiel. Dean could apologize, and they could have a sappy chick flick moment; and really? The thought of such a thing was almost something that he longed for. He wished, more than anything, that he wasn't such an asshole, that he hadn't left Castiel for a girl. A girl of all things. Granted, they had history together, but she was still just a girl, and Dean thought that he had learned a long time ago that some things were just more important than a piece of ass.

Clearly, he was wrong thinking he had learned his lesson; it had still needed to be pressed in a little bit deeper. A little bit more.

Well, he had certainly learned it now.

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In all reality, Castiel was in very little danger in his present state. He was not on a mission, nor was he likely to ever be on one again. His health was deteriorating, quicker than should be possible for an angel of the Lord. Which was the reason why he had sought for his Father once again; with positive results this time. Not only had he found Him, but he had the answers that he needed, and was content with his fate. Along with the peace that had come over him, his Father had suggested that he spend the rest of his remaining life with Him; which he had jumped at the chance to do.

Castiel was dying. For the final time, which was really not as dramatic as he thought it would be. His Father had explained it in being that angels were not meant to be solitary creatures; He had created them to be with each other, or with someone else. And with Castiel ostracized from his brothers and sisters, aside from Gabriel, he had grown lonely; his heart had started to break with that. A small crack, comparatively to the size of it, but it was a crack nonetheless. Having a heart was a dangerous thing for an angel, being that they were entirely a 'soul' of sorts, which meant that 'heart' was figurative for their emotions, which, as much as they liked to deny having any, were a huge part of their being.

It had been explained to him that when they found the person that they would love, more than any other person or being, not counting their Father, they would know immediately what to do, and they would protect them with everything they were. No matter what the consequences were. He had also explained to him that if he had been any of the other angels, Castiel would have realized that Dean was his soul mate long ago and approached him about it; but back to the part about his upcoming death. Castiel had, in effect, been rejected by his soul mate; someone that he loved with his whole being and had sacrificed even the chance of his brothers and sisters excluding Balthazar and Gabriel ever accepting him. The rejection had shattered Castiel to his very core, which was making his grace slowly slip away, bit by bit.

He had explained that Castiel would be saved if Dean could fix him, could accept him, completely and totally as his mate on all three levels. But Castiel had told the Lord of the small chance of such an event taking place, even in Castiel's wildest fantasies, and then added the part of the deal that he had been coerced into making. After the confession the Lord patted his youngest angel on the head and stroked his hair in a soothing motion; assuring him that he would look after him.

But even being this close to the Lord could not heal him, and as far as Castiel was concerned, he had resigned himself to dying, never again to see any of his brothers, or even Dean. His father promoted his status as an angel so he was even more powerful than Michael himself had ever been. He was becoming quite a soft spot for the Lord, and he wasn't unhappy about it. It was a bit selfish he supposed, to take up so much of His time and energy, but he didn't let it bother him much. Everyone else had eternity with Him. Castiel had a few weeks at the most.

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Dean was tired of waiting for Castiel to show up, he missed him, even though he didn't want to admit it out loud. He worried about him almost constantly; and he wanted his best friend back. He hadn't wanted to resort to this, but it had been six months since they had heard anything about the angel, and he was concerned. Really and truly.

Which was why he was parked in a dark play ground at some crazy hour of the night; sitting on the hood of the Impala. He looked skyward and took a deep breath. "Dear Castiel, I really want to talk to you, and I want to see you in person. I understand that you don't want to see me, and that you're busy. But please. I need you." He hadn't even finished speaking when the haggard figure of the angel appeared a few feet in front of him, looking completely and totally dazed and confused.

Which Castiel was; he hadn't believed that he was capable of such travel this late in his life stages. His wings were too heavy for him to really move them anymore and he rarely did anything more than lay around his Father's sanctuary (which was actually against the rules, but he was dying, so no one really said anything), but he really shouldn't be able to make a trip to Earth. The effects were large, and he collapsed into a warm and very human body.

"Dean." He gasped, immediately feeling better just being around the man. His Grace stopped leaking out of him and he could feel his wings move restlessly. "Why did you call me here?" Already he could feel the burning of a deal not kept starting to eat at him; he wouldn't be able to stay long.

"Castiel… What's wrong with you?" Castiel straightened up and tried to pull away from his soul mate, but Dean wasn't having any of it, and all in all, he really didn't actually want to get away from him. All he wanted to do was curl up in this man's arms, curl farther into him and block out the rest of the world. But he couldn't; Dean didn't love him and he would never use him to elongate his own life, which was exactly what he was doing by staying in the man's embrace.

"I am… Ill." Dean pushed him an arm's length away and inspected him, at which a sharp pang broke through the very essence of Castiel's being.

"Is it a curse? Have you been poisoned? What could possibly hurt you? Who is responsible for this?" Dean was almost yelling and Castiel was cringing away.

"No. No. No." He took a deep breath. "I caused myself to be sick." Dean looked dumbfounded and stared at Castiel for a moment, unblinkingly.

"Why would you cause yourself to be sick?" Castiel's lips quirked in a small smile at Dean's question.

"I don't know. It builds character." Dean swore and released the angel which made him give a barely concealed whimper.

The righteous man wiped his mouth. "Shit Cas. Why the hell would you do something like that?" His shoulders slumped. "Is there any way that I can help you?"

"You… I…" Castiel gathered up what strength he had and sent himself back to his Father's sanctuary. The Lord was instantly at his side.

"Castiel, you should have stayed, you had the opportunity to save yourself. Why did you not do it?" Castiel shook his head in a fevered manner, though he was not weak at all, in fact he was stronger than he had been in a long time.

"I wouldn't do that to him, I wouldn't force this on him, myself on him." He staggered to his feet and felt a breeze enter the sanctuary. Gabriel was standing in the doorways.

"Castiel." Was the only thing that the archangel said before he ran to his brother and gave him a large hug. "I'm so glad that you're okay." His wings bristled once he touched him. "You're not okay, are you?" He looked to their Father in confusion, who gave the archangel a pointed look. If Gabriel had been in anyone else's presence, he would have sworn, but as it was he didn't want to insult his Lord more than he might have by barging into his sanctuary in such a manner.

"I am fading. I would be weaker if it were not for my recent visit to Earth." Gabriel looked at him in a confused manner. "I seem to heal, at least partially, when I am around Dean Winchester." Gabriel gripped him tighter.

"Then you should be around him all the time. We're going to Earth, right now." The older angel had a frantic note to his voice.

"I cannot. I care not to explain, but I cannot and will not go. Not unless you all need help." The younger angel straightened himself to his full height and spread his now much more impressive wings. "You can no longer force me to do such. You will go back and protect your mate and my former charge, as the duty now falls to you." Gabriel's eyes widened and then narrowed. "You may visit, if you should want to, but I will not be leaving."

"If you say so, brother." Gabriel gave an affectionate and true bow of respect to their father and then gave a mocking one to his brother before hugging him tightly; and then Gabriel was gone once more.

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When Gabriel arrived in the Winchester's hotel room that he was sharing with them, he was absolutely livid. "This is all your fault!" His voice, which he had not converted to one acceptable to human ears and surroundings, broke any and all glass in the room and caused Dean to fall to his knees, clutching his head from the force of it. "He is _dying_ and he won't do a thing about it and it is all _your_ fault." Dean took gasping breaths as the force of the angel's words hit him, both physically and emotionally.

"I don't know… what you're talking about." Gabriel growled, something more ferocious and threatening than anything from any demon or creature they had ever faced.

"Castiel is dying, because of your stupidity, you foolish man." He advanced on him, his true form bleeding out through his vessel. "I have killed hundreds of thousands for far lesser sins; tell me why I should be merciful to you." Sam stepped in between the enraged angel and his brother.

"Because of me; and the likelihood that he is unaware of his 'sins'. This cooled the white hot temper that he had been exhibiting, and he returned to his vessel's body, completely this time.

"That does not mean that he did not commit them." He practically sobbed, his anger was spent and all there was left was the intense grief he had been attempting to hold back. They stayed in the embrace for a while before breaking out and staring around the room. There was a bloodstain on the floor, the glass was broken, everywhere and there were bloody handprints and finger marks, like someone had gotten dragged across the floor.

Not to mention that Dean was missing.

**That was hard… and fun to write at the same time. Where do you think Dean is? Should Castiel help/know how to save him? Why wasn't Cassie a part of this? These are all questions for you to try and contemplate an answer.(: Love you all, I'll update again soon.**


	7. No Quarter

Chapter Seven

Dean knew exactly where he was, but that didn't mean he wanted to believe it. Seriously, he was pretty sure that he wasn't dead (he hoped he wasn't dead), so there was no way that he could be where he thought he was. Right? He was tied down, wherever he was. So he wasn't getting up any time soon. But God, was it ever hot wherever he was. Hot as Hell.

That thought made his breath come quicker and he struggled even more. There was no way, right? He started to hyperventilate a little bit, the last thing he remembered was Gabriel screaming at him, about what he'd done (what exactly he'd done, he still had no clue), pain and struggling, and now he'd woken up here. In this white room, with black curtains; he chuckled to himself at that. "Next thing I'm gonna hear is a train, just wait." He mumbled to himself and he gradually started calming down as he hummed the Cream song.

"Sorry to burst your bubble sweetheart, but you're not going to be hearing a train anytime soon." Dean's head snapped up to look at the woman in front of him, head tilting to the side and eyes squinting in an expression that could only be categorized as 'you have got to be kidding me.'

"Cassie?" She laughed and crossed her arms, curly black hair bouncing as she moved her head a little bit. He shivered at the manic sound.

"Actually this is just her meat suit anymore…" She smiled and slid her tongue around her teeth in a manner that could only be called smug. "Guess again." He now glared at her.

"Meg." She grinned. "Awwh man, please tell me that it was not you when…" He was now pressing himself against the wall, body language showing nothing but absolute disgust.

"I wasn't too happy about that part either. But it was necessary to my plan." She smiled wickedly. "You're the one that couldn't figure out that she was possessed." Dean was now a visible shade of green. "You might want to concentrate on keeping that food in your stomach. It's the last you're going to have for a while." He swallowed.

Maybe if he hadn't been so distracted by Castiel, by his feelings for him; the feelings that he had tried to forget by going with who he thought was Cassie, he would have noticed that she was possessed, saved her, saved himself. Saved Castiel, because now he couldn't search for a cure for the angel, he wouldn't be able to save him. But that wasn't to say that no one would save him, Gabriel and Sam were still free, they could save him, and then maybe, if they thought he deserved it (which he decidedly didn't) they could possibly try and find him.

His head was snapped to the side, "Pay attention when I'm talking to you, Dean." There was force in her voice, and he rolled his jaw around a little bit.

"Where am I?" She laughed and trailed a fingernail down his arm, digging in roughly.

"Don't you recognize it, Dean?" Her voice was sickly sweet and carried a sing-song quality. "You're in Hell." He looked up, green eyes wide as she walked away from him.

"But.. that's not possible. I'm still alive." She turned around, a red-hot piece of metal in her hand.

"That's easily fixed." She shoved it through his shoulder.

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"How did we not notice that he was gone?" Sam asked in an incredulous voice, staring at the spot where his brother had been crouched only moments before.

"We were busy, it happens to me all the time. He's probably fine." Sam looked at the archangel exasperatedly. "Claw marks on the floor? Oh, come on. I killed him hundreds of times, and he never ever left claw marks anywhere, even when he was being dragged away." Sam ran a hand over his face. "Let's just check around town, and if he's not there, I'll ask around upstairs. Okay?" Gabriel seemed almost happy that Dean was gone, and Sam wasn't sure he even wanted to know why.

"How about you ask Castiel? You said you know where he is now, right? Just go ask him, I'm sure he keeps tabs on him, and if he doesn't, their bond should tell him anyways." Gabriel's expression darkened.

"No." His tone left no room for discussion and Sam flinched at the anger that was coming off of the smaller man in waves. He decided he wouldn't ask again, at least until it was necessary.

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"Castiel. He needs you." The angel looked sharply over at his Father.

"He does not." The Lord looked upon Castiel with all of his unconditional patience and spoke once again.

"He's in Hell." The angel was gone before anything else could be said.

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"What happened?" Castiel's face was red and showed clear anger, and his voice reached a new level of low as he growled out the words. Gabriel and Sam glanced at each other.

"What do you mean?" Sam looked down at Castiel, his eyebrows steadily climbing into his hairline.

"You mean to tell me, that Dean died, and you're so unaffected that you don't even know what I'm talking about?"

"Dean died?" Gabriel turned around to look at his brother and Castiel threw him into the nearby alley before pressing him up against the brick wall.

"You were supposed to protect him. I trusted you." Gabriel could see Castiel's wings spread out behind him menacingly, but was drawn away from the sight by the pressure that was on his neck, and terrifyingly enough, he couldn't shake the younger angel's hold. "That was a mistake I will not be making again."

Before either of the stunned men could react, Castiel gave one last great shove against Gabriel's throat and disappeared. "Dean's dead?" Sam sounded lost, and looked it too; Gabriel wrapped his arms around his mate, trying to calm him, and brought them both back to the hotel room in a heartbeat.

"Let's hope that he's not."

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"Are you… going to kill me or not?" Dean panted out as he slumped against his restraints. He didn't know how long he had been in this godforsaken room, and he was past the point of caring. He knew that no one was coming for him, and once he died, he would most likely be forced to endure the same kind of pain for the rest of eternity.

For all the talk about how he was the "righteous man" that was meant for greater things, it seemed that he always ended up back in hell. He chuckled to himself as he watched the person who had previously been Cassie walk around him twirling a spiked mace before slamming the ball into him once more, he wasn't sure, but he believed that this was probably better than torturing other people. That's what had driven him insane. Until Castiel had found him.

He didn't remember everything from his time in Hell before, but he did know that he had been close to losing it. He did know that he had valid reasons for believing that he didn't deserve to be saved; and he did know that Castiel had done something to ease the hurt, to take away the worst of it. But Castiel wasn't coming for him this time; after the first few hours of pain and punctures, of lacerations and burns, he knew that Castiel wasn't going to come for him, no matter how much he prayed or begged.

Everyone else was finally realizing what he had known for years, he didn't deserve to be saved, he wasn't any better than anyone else, he didn't deserve to be sacrificed for, and he accepted it. Castiel had always claimed that he was wrong, everyone deserved to be saved.

But Dean had finally gone too far, fucked it all up. Because when even Castiel couldn't help him? He knew he was done for.

With that thought he gritted his teeth and braced himself for the next swing of the mace.

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After a few hours of searching on his own, Castiel had decided to ask Uncle Bobby for help. The man was an expert in, well, almost anything, and if Castiel needed help, he could go to the man. Gabriel and Sam were obviously useless, and as far as Castiel was concerned, this was their entire fault. He had trusted them with the care of his mate, and within just a few hours of leaving him for the final time, they had allowed him to be killed and dragged to hell.

"Bobby." He stepped into the hunter's house and stood back as the man regarded him with suspicion. "I need to find where exactly Dean is."

"Can't you just do that through your freaky bond thing?" He griped out at him, walking into the kitchen and casually reaching in the fridge to get a beer.

"Dean's in Hell." The bottle that had previously been in his hand dropped to the floor and he looked up in shock.

"He's where?" The man spluttered out in disbelief, he'd thought that they were idjits before, but he couldn't believe that they had let this happen to one of their own.

"My Father alerted me that he was in Hell, but I was quick to verify what he said for myself and did not ask for his exact location." He stared intently at the hunter. "I'm sure you can find his location so that I may find him again?"

"How'd he die?" Castiel sighed at the question.

"I am not sure." Bobby squinted at him.

"Are you sure he's dead?" Castiel scoffed at his question.

"He's in Hell there's almost no way that he could be sent there unless he was already deceased." He was getting frustrated very quickly but he checked the bond anyways, it would be gone if Dean was dead, especially in the weakened state it had already been in. His eyes widened and he looked up at the hunter standing in the kitchen.

The bond was still there.

Bobby shook his head and decided that he needed to call Sam, and maybe visit him. Knock some sense into him. He and Castiel had spent the last hour deciding exactly where Dean was and how to get to him quickly and safely. Then Castiel had relocated his angel blade and armor, and finally, he was ready for battle with whatever had taken Dean.

All the older hunter could hope was that the newly dubbed archangel would get there in time.

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Dean woke up once again after falling unconscious from the sheer strength of his pain. He bit back a groan and tried to fall back asleep, not wanting Meg to know that he was awake. But he was not a lucky man, and Meg was too tuned into his life signs to not notice the increase in his heart rate.

"You're awake! Good. I wanted you conscious for this next bit." Dean didn't move, didn't open his eyes. There was no point in looking or not, he was going to feel just as bad either way, and he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction.

Her hand hit him across the face, "Look at me while I'm talking to you!" he opened his green eyes and glared at her defiantly before closing them again.

"Why you little-" She was cut off by a commotion outside. "Ugh. I'll be right back. I just have to take care of a little problem." She opened the door and walked out, leaving Dean alone in the room for the first time since he got here. There was screaming outside the room, but he decided to not pay much attention to that as he needed to take this time to size up just where he was and how he could get out.

He was cuffed to the wall at his legs, arms and waist, making it impossible for him to bend over, or reach the lock pick set that he could feel was still hidden in his collar. His only options left for escape was to break his wrist and possibly his fingers to get it out of the cuff, reach the lock pick set, and somehow pick the other lock with a broken wrist. He was just about to pull hard on the left cuff when his door burst open.

Meg was covered head to toe in blood, ectoplasm and various other liquids that he did not want to learn about. Her eyes were frightened and the first thing she did was grab the key off the wall. "We have to get out of here." Dean nodded his head, smiling. He could probably, maybe, take her if she let him out of his restraints, so he was all for being moved.

She opened the cuff around his waist, then his hands, and his feet, and he punched her squarely in the face. She came back up and set her jaw, "Look, I know you might not be happy with me, but you don't want to be here when he comes for you, that's worse than anything I could do to you. C'mon." Dean just laughed and punched her again.

"I'm not sure about what you think, but I know one thing for sure, and that's that demons lie. And just between you and me? I'd rather take my chances with whatever is out there, because with you I know I'm a goner. That thing is killing demons, and in my book? That's a damn good thing." She set her jaw angrily and glared at him before grabbing his arm and yanking him along, reopening every wound she had given him.

He fell to the ground with a cry and pulled his arms around him while she tried to hoist him up and carry him out of the room. She dropped him though when a bright light filled the room and a screeching sound could be heard. Dean's first instinct when he heard the screeching was to cover his ears to avoid the eardrums being blown, but he soon found that the voice he heard was not offensive to him and was actually calming. He looked up to see Castiel standing in the doorway.

_**"How **__**dare**__** you touch him."**_ Meg backed up against the wall, shaking her head desperately as though she was being pressed there by just his presence. _**"How dare you **__**hurt**__** him. Do you know. Who he is?" **_ Castiel moved away from the door and stalked closer to the tan woman that was trying to hide from him, pushing the devices she had tortured Dean with in front of herself, trying to stop him from getting to her. Dean could only watch in awe as the angel's wings spread out behind him, the golden feathers rippling in the wind that could only be described as supernatural. _**"You, are going to die for what you did. You are lucky that I'm in a merciful mood." **_The blade that Castiel had previously kept hidden swept through the woman, the body slumping and the black ash signifying what was left of the demon poured out of the cut.

"Castiel." The name fell out of Dean's lips in a gasp as he tried to prop himself up on the floor.

"Relax, Dean. We're going to get out of here." If it would have been any other situation, and his eyesight hadn't been fading, Dean would have protested about flying as far as he was sure they were going to have to, to get out of Hell. But as it was, he was only barely conscious, and he could tell that Castiel wasn't exactly in the mood to banter.

The hallways that they walked through were littered with demons and other creatures, all of which were almost beheaded, or their heads were a few feet away from them. Dean turned away from the sight, not willing to throw up on Castiel after the angel had saved him. Instead he distracted himself by threading his hands through the feathers on the angel's wings.

Castiel jumped when Dean first touched them but after that continued walking as if nothing different. "You're such a girl." Dean pressed his face into Castiel's shoulder and laughed as much as he could with the way it was becoming difficult to draw air into his lungs. Dean didn't have to look up to know that Castiel was definitely looking at him with a confused expression. The hunter snorted once again and slumped into the angel's arms. "Even your wings are pretty."

Castiel looked down at the hunter that was in his arms and with alarm realized that he was no longer conscious. "Dean? You have to stay awake." He shook the man, but got no response.

Unfurling his wings even farther Castiel began a furiously fast trip out of hell, he needed to heal Dean, and he couldn't do it here.

With everything happening so quickly, he didn't get the chance to think about what was implied by the fact that Dean could see his wings.

**I made you guys wait forever for this. I'm soo sorry. Was it worth it? Hahaa. Umm. Where should he take Dean? I had some ideas for the next chapter, but you guys always give the best inspiration and ideas. (:**


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